Urn of Saint Lucian and Saint Marcian

During the 14th century the cult of the holy martyrs Saints Lucian and Marcian received a considerable boost in Vic. This urn contained their relics, which were venerated in the old chapel of Sant Sadurní (later absorbed by the church of La Pietat). The front contains the depiction of three episodes from their lives as they are described by the Golden Legend. Thus, the first scene (left) presents us with Lucian and Marcian using the diabolical arts to tempt, insistently and fruitlessly, a pure and chaste maiden. The second scene (centre) shows the moment when Lucian and Marcian, by now converted to Christianity, are led before the praetor Sabinus, who interrogates them and condemns them. In the third scene (right) we see the scene of their martyrdom, in which we find an early portrayal of the iconographical formula that would eventually impose itself in the depiction of the holy martyrs: tied to a column surrounded by flames.